Coupling for necklaces.



B. B. CHRIST.

COUPLING FOR NECKLACES APPLICATION FILED FEB. 20. 1917.

Patented Aug. 28, 1917.

ran s ars YBERN A D B. crimes, or BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

COUPLING FOR NECKLACES.

Application filed. February 20, 1917. Serial No. 149,773.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, BERNI-IARD B. CHRIST, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the borough of Brooklyn, city of New York, county of Kings, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Couplings for Necklaces, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements in couplings for uniting the meeting ends of necklaces, bracelets, belts, and in fact any similar or analogous articles in which it is desirable .to i have the meeting members quickly and safely united and easily detachable or separable. It is customary to provide. a spring snap which will fasten the meeting ends ofwsuch articles together, but often a single snap or catch of the kindgenerally used will become unfastened and the article will be lost, orelse it will notquite catch when one thinks it is secure. The object of my invention is to provide in connecton with a suitable. main snap or catch, a' safety snap or catch which will suitably secure the meeting ends of the article to which the coupling is applied, and to arrange the safety so that itwillcatch at a different point than the main catch and operate at a different time, and preferably to] arrange it sothat the tension of the safety catch will be at right angles to the tension of the main snap catch. Thus when thesnap member is inserted in the socket member of the coupling, the safety snap or catch will first pass-by its engaging shoulder, and if the main catch should not be pushed in far enough, the safety would hold so as to provide against accidents, and if the main.

catch ispushed into the socket memberso as to make a firm engagement, it will serve its purpose, and when it is released either intentionally or accidentally, the snap member will only pullout partway because the safety willthen engage its shoulder and the safety has to be released before the two members can be separated.

Another objeet of my invention is to produce a cheap structure which will be highly eilicient as specified, and to arrange the -operating parts so that they will work very smoothly and easily, opening with a light touch of the finger.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forminga part of-this specification,- in which similar reference char:

acters indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure .1 a plan view of a bracelet show ing my coupling members applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is a plan of the socket member.

Fig. 3 is a plan of the plug or snap member.

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the socket member.

Fig. '5 is a side elevation of the opposed members.

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal section of the socket member.

Fig. 7 is a longitudinal section of the complete coupling with the two members in engagement,

Fig. 8 is an end member,

Fig. 9 is an end view of the plug or snap member. 1

Fig. 10 is a horizontal or sectional plan view of the socket of the coupling with the two parts in engagement. i y i Fig. 11 is a view similar to Fig. 10but with the main snap released and the safety in engagement, and

Fig. 12 is a broken perspective partly in section bringing out clearly the construction of the safety and its corresponding shoulder. The bracelet 10 may of course boa necle preferably though not necessarily of rectangular shape, and it has at its front end" a horizontal slot 13 extendmg all the way :across it, and located preferably near the bottom. This leaves an overhanging ledge or shoulder 14: at the front end which can engage the sprmg catch 15 when the latter i is pushed inward behind the shoulder. This catch 15 comprises the main catch and is similar to catches generally used for this. purpose. It is in. the form of a leaf sprin doubled over at its inner end and returned upon itself as shown at 16, the lower member extending outward beyondthe end of the: socket member 11 and having an eye 17 orsome means of connecting with the bracelet,

Patented aw. as, rear. 1

lace, belt, or other flexible article, having 1 out.

necklace, or whatever article it is used in connection with. v I

The catch or snap has near its free edge a lug or finger piece 18 which projects upward through the slot 19, the latter being perpendicular to the slot 13 so that by pressing downward on the lug 18 the snap can be released and the plug member pulled So far as described the structure is not dissimilar from any forms of snap catches. At one end of the plug member is a spring arm 20 which lies generally parallel with the plug member and with the snap 15, though the tension of the spring arm is lateral with reference to the plug member as shown in the drawings, and the plug member is cut away opposite the spring arm as 7 shown best in Fig. 10 to permit the spring wardbelow that part of the front end 1 1 p which engages the snap 15, this shoulder 22 -in fact being very narrow and near one edge arm'to be'p'ushed inward when desired.

The spring arm 20 has a shoulder or ledge 2lthereon' which it will be observed is'well behind the free end" of the snap 15, and this is adapted to engage the shoulder 22 (see Fig; 12) which is arranged at the front end of the socket member 11, and projects clownof the socket member 11. This member 20 and shoulder 21 comprise the safety or safety snap, and it has at its free end a finger piece 23 which projects slightly forward from a slot 13; and is adapted to slide laterally in the said slot under the tension of the spring of the arm 20, so that when the shoulder 21 is'behind the shoulder 22, the member 23 will proj ect'slightly to one side and a little forward of'the socket member 11. It is not necessary, however, that the member 23 project both'to one side and forward of the member 11, as if it projects in either direction it can be touched by the finger so as to "release the safety snap, that is so as to push the shoulder 21 inward to enable it to pass the shoulder 22 when the plug member is pulled from the socket member.

It will be noticed that when the plug member is inserted in the socket member, the

safety catch or shoulder 21 will pass'behind the shoulder 22 before the snap 15 passes behind the shoulder 14, and in case the plug member is carelessly pushed in only part way, the safety will still hold. To properly secure the coupling, however, the plug member should be pushed in until the snap 15 engages behind the shoulder 14. When the members are to be separated, one simply pushes downward on the lug 18, thus freeing the snap 15 from its shoulder, and at the same time pushes the plug member outward;

after a little movement the shoulder 21 engages the shoulder '22, and this is freed by pushing the finger piece 23 inward laterally so as to free the shoulder 21 from the shoulder 22.

' In practice the springs made light and i catch on the plug independently engaging the socket member, and independent means i for releasing each catch;

2. A coupling comprising a socketmember and a 'plug member; entering the socket member, a main snap catch on the plug engaging a corresponding part of the socket member, and a safety catch onthe plug working at an angle to the main catch and also engagingthe socket member.

3; A couphng comprisinga socket member and a plug member engaging the socket member, a main snap catch on the plug en-V gaging a corresponding part of the socket member, a safety catch on the plug also engaging a part of the socket member but at a different time from the main cateh'whenthe plug is moved in the socket member,

at, A coupling comprising a socket member and a plug member entering thesocket mem- 'ber, amain snap catch carried bythe plug and engaging the socket member, and a safety catch also carried by the plug and arranged behind themain catch and engaging a corresponding part of the socket member.

5. A coupling comprising a socket member and a plug member entering the socket mem her, the plug member having a main snap catch engaging thesocket member, and a safety catch moving at an angle to the main catch and arranged out of alinement with the main catch, the safety catch serving to also engage the socket member and having means for releasing it independent of the main snap. I

6. A coupling comprising a socket member having two shoulders, and' a plug member entering the socket member, said plug memher having amain snap catch to engage one shoulder of the socket member, and an independent safety catch to engage the second shoulder of'the socket member. 7 a

7 A coupling comprising a socket member slotted in one end and provided with shoulders adjacent the slot, one shoulder being at a different elevation than the other, and a plug member entering the slot of the socket member, said plug member having a main V snap'catch to engage 'one shoulder of the socket member, and an independent safety snap catch to engage the second shoulder of the socket member. 1 a

8. A coupling comprising slottedsocket member, and a plug member entering the slot of the socket member, said plug member having a main snap catch to engage a corresponding part of the socket member, and a safety catch lying generally parallel with the main catch but with a tension essentially at right angles to that of the main catch, said safety catch engaging a corresponding part of the socket member and engaging at a dif ferent time from the main snap catch.

9. A coupling comprising a socket member slotted at one end and provided with shoulders, and a plug member entering the slot of the socket member, said plug member having a main catch in the form of a leafspring engaging the main shoulder of the socket member, and a safety catch also in the form of a leaf-spring but with its tension at right angles to that of the main catch, the safety catch engaging the second shoulder of the socket member.

10. A coupling of the kind described comprising a socket member and a plug entering the socket member, said plug having a plurality of snap catches thereon to successively engage corresponding parts in the socket member.

BERNHARD B. CHRIST. \Vitnesses:

WARREN B. HUToHINsoN, M. G. ODONNELL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0. 

